Folding chair



L. C. TRAVERS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE :4. 1921.

1 ,396,794. Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

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ATTUHNEIYE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC/E.

LEWIS C. TBAVERS, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OI ONE-HALF T0 E. H. MAHONEY CHAIR COMPANY, 01 GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND ONE-HALF TO HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD COMPANY, OF WAKEFIELD, MASSACHU- SETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

Application filed June 14, 1821. Serial No. 477,388.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS C. TRAVERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gardner, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Folding Chairs, of which the ollowing is a specification.

. This invention relates to that type of folding chair which comprises parallel elongated side bars forming front legs, said bars being rigidly connected at their upper and lower end portions, rigidly connected rear bars forming back legs and pivoted at their upper ends to the upper end portions of the side bars, a seat having a pivotal (connection with the side bars, permitting the seat to swing on a horizontal axis, the seat being provided with spaced apart arms projecting rearwardly from said axis, and a back having a pivotal connection at its lower end with the seat arms, and at its upper end portion with the rear bars, the seat and back being supported in difierent angular positions when the chair is opened, and meeting side by side between the slde bars when the chair is folded.

The invention is embodied in the improvements hereinafter described and claimed in a chair. of this type, whereby a strong, durable and simple construction is provided, and whereby resistance to the operations of opening an folding the chair is reduced to a negligible minimum.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, showing the chair folded.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are persiective views, showing the pintles herelna er described, forming parts of the improved structure.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section through the seat bars and the seat.

Figs. 8 and 9 are fragmentary sections similar to Figs. 2 and 3, showing certain variations.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

In the drawin 12, 12 represent two elongated parallel side bars, the lower portions of which constitute the front legs of the chair. Said bars are rigidly connected at their upper ends by a cross-bar l3, and at their lower ends by a cross-bar 14. 15, 15 represent two rear bars, the upper ends of which are pivoted at 16 to the upper end portions of the side bars, their lower ends being rigidly connected by a cross-bar 17, said bars forming back legs, and being adapted to swing between the side bars, as shown by Fig. 3. 18 represents a seat havlng a pivotal connection with the side bars 12 between the end portions of the latter, permitting the seat to swing on a horizontal axis, the seat being also adapted to swing between the side bars. Said connection is preferably formed by passing a transverse rod 20 through the side bars 12, and through the seat, between the upper and lower sides of the latter, said rod being provided with suitable heads 23 (Fig. 7), bearing on the outer sides of the bars 12. The rod, therefore, constitutes a hinge member and a tension rod or connection between the side bars, supplementing those provided by the crossbars 13 and 14, and preventing the central portions of the side bars from springing outward. The seat is provided with spaced apart arms 21, projecting rearwardly from its axis, and engaged as hereinafter described, with the rear bars 15. 22 represents a back having a pivotal connection at its lower end'with the seat arms 21, and engaged at its upper end portion with the rear bars 15, the back being adapted to swing between the rear bars.

Formed in the inner sides of the rear bars 15, and at the upper portions of said bars, are upper longitudinal slots 24, which receive upper pintles 25, fixed to the upper portion of the back, said upper pintles be- 1ng preferably cylindrical rods driven into opposite edges of the back, and adapted to turn and slide in the slots 24. Formed in the inner sides of the rear bars, and at the lower portions thereof, are lower longitudinal, slots 26, which receive lower pintles 27, fixed to the rear ends of the seat arms 21, and adapted to turn and slide in the slots 26,

the said pintles being fixed to cars 28 projecting from the upper sides of said arms, and. Qfi'set by said ears from the seat arms,

. sockets in the seat 'arms 21.

The arrangement of the said ofiset hinges is such that when the chair is folded, the seat closes against the back, as in Fig: 3. The same result may be produced by the offset hingesshown by Figs. 8 and 9, provided by ears 28 fixed to the seat arms 21,

and intles 27 entering sockets in the back.

W en .the chair is opened, and the side and rear bars stand at different angles, the seat 18 is supported conjointly by its pivotal connection with the side bars 12, and by the bearing of the pintles 27 on the upper ends of the lower slots 26, said upper ends constituting stops which limit the upward movement of the pintles in said slots. The

back is supported conjointly by its offset hinge connection with the seat arms 21, and by the engagement of its upper pintles 25 with the upper slots 24.

When the seat is moved into the space 'between the side bars to fold the chair, the lower pintles 27 on the seat arms, and the upper pintles 25 on the back slide so freely downward in the back slots 26 and 24,..that no objectionable frictional resistance attends the folding movement. The ofiset hinges connecting the back with the seat arms, and the offset pintles 27 connecting the seat arms with the rear bars, permit the upper side of the seat to bear on the rear bars 15, and-on the back 22, when the back is folded, so that the rear bars, the seat, and the back are'compactly stored between the side bars 12, as shown by Fig. 3.

The described improvements characterizing the invention enable the chair to be opened and folded without binding or cramping, and without objectionable frictional resistance. When the chair is folded and is being carried in a vertical position, as shown by Fig. 3, by a hand grasping the upper cross-bar 13, the weight of the back prevents the accidental opening of the chair.

I'claim:

1. A folding chair comprising rigidly connected side bars forming front legs; rigidly connected rear bars forming rear legs, and adapted-to swing between the side bars, said rear bars having upper and lower longitudinal slots in their inner sides; a seat formed to swing between the side bars and provided with rearwardly extending arms; a back formed to swing between the rear bars; hinged connections permitting the seat to swing between the side bars, offset hinge connections between the seat arms and the back, upper pintles on the back slidable in the upper rear bar slots, and lower pintles on the seat armslyslidable in the lower rear bar slots, the said hinge connections, pintles and slots firmly maintaining the rear bars, the seat,and the back in their operative positions when the side bars and rear bars are differently inclined and bear on a supporting surface, the arrangement being such that a folding movement of the seat causes the seat arm pintles and the upper back pintles to slide freely downward in the slots of the rear bars, until the seat, the back, and the rear bars are located between the side bars, and the seat is in contact with the back legs and with the back.

signature.

LEWIS C. TRAVERS. 

